Ukraine at the football European Championship had the following matches, in this order – Romania, Slovakia, and Belgium.
To be almost sure of qualifying, they had to win at least one game and draw one. Of course, winning two or more matches is great, but it is not mandatory.
Now, it might seem that the match against Romania had no stake.
But if you consider there were only three matches, and Belgium is probably hard to beat, they had to get a win and a draw from the first two matches.
Sometimes, people say, “It’s not in the knockout stages.”
That’s fine, but Ukraine still had to win/get a draw.
Of course, winning against Belgium is mathematically possible, it’s not a zero chance event, but even if it wasn’t a knockout, Ukraine still had to win.
